Freedom National Bank was founded in 1964 by investors including Jackie Robinson and Dunbar Simms McLaurin.
Freedom National failed in 1990 during a recession[6] as it faced loan defaults and internal division.
[7][8][9] When it was shut down, Freedom National had $101.9 million in assets, two branches in Brooklyn, 22,000 depositors, and 97 employees.
[1][10] The decision was seen as a serious "blunder", in contrast to FDIC's treatment of the vast majority of "800 bank failures in the last four years".
In those cases, FDIC did not just pay off insured accounts, but instead facilitated new owners to take over failed banks so that the customers received all their money back.